MIRACLES

There was a time this year in late January that left me in despair. It seems my daughter Ellen, a 44-year old gal with developmental disabilities somehow fell and broke her leg! She was in her home, in a large day room and headed back down a long corridor to her bedroom.

External fixator

Soon the bus came to take her to her day program so staff went to get her to assist her onto the bus, and when they entered her room, they found her on the floor!

Both tibia and fibia bones were broken in her right leg between the ankle and the knee, and we didn’t know how it happened!

After an exhausting day at the ER, she was fixed temporarily with an external fixator, to get the bones set or she would lose her leg. This gave the surgeon a little time to plan his next move and to allow the healing process to begin. She suffered from fracture blisters and so no immediate operation was possible because of the state of her skin on the area.

Working with a person who is disabled is very difficult if their mental capacity is that of 8- months old, and that is what the doctors were working with. It took 5 nurses and the hefty doctor to hold her down while the fixator was applied, when it was over, they were all exhausted. She was frightened, we were sick at heart.

The next two weeks were spent in a rehab facility that was not able to care for her, it was just not equipped, too many things were wrong. My daughter’s population needs constant supervision and aggressive planning. This was not happening and we noticed, made constant requests and still it didn’t work out.

After two weeks, the surgeon said it was time to operate and that she needed to go back to the hospital. The surgeons would implant a steel rod to her leg.

Tomorrow: THE BIG FIGHT